Dear First Year Pernille

Dear First Year Pernille,You did it! You got the job you set your heart on and now comes the part you have been looking forward to; teaching! I know life has a lot in store for you this first year, already you are 4 months pregnant on the first day of school, and yet there are just a few things I want you to know before you start.

Stop stressing over your room! Now is the time to be outside going for a walk, not laboring over the placement of posters, bulletin boards or welcome signs. The kids will hardly notice it so give yourself a break. Even if it feels like a hallway bulletin board competition at times – it’s not.

Ask more questions. Your teammates are some of the kindest and smartest people around. Don’t feel that you are a burden or that you should already know. You are new, don’t feel like you have to act like you already know the answer.

Trust your gut. Feel that little tingle in your stomach? Besides the baby, that’s your intuition trying to tell you to listen to it. So absolutely go ahead and use some of those same programs but then spend some time finding yourself as well. Make this your room with your teaching style, not a watered down version of someone else’s.

Allow yourself to fail. The students love it when we fail, why? Because it shows we are humans. The sooner you embrace your failures as another step in learning, the sooner you can get over it, and the more you will be a role model for the kids.

Don’t beat yourself up. Not everything will be perfect, even for an overachiever like yourself. Some days will be amazing, others will not. Don’t worry there will be more good than bad but when those bad ones come around – give yourself a break.

Smile. Love. Laugh. Share. Think. Reflect. Question. Be kind. Be brave. Be you. Everything is going to be just fine. Oh, and do get on Twitter.

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7 thoughts on “Dear First Year Pernille”

Pernille, reflection can be so wonderful and look where you are now! Some day your kids will hopefully reflect and see how lucky they were to have time with you. Until this happens enjoy the journey and celebrate often.

Great post! Self reflection is highly underrated by many people. It's so easy NOT to take the time to do it. But wow, it's so powerful when it happens. Great idea. As always, thanks for sharing! - @newfirewithin

Thank you so much for this post!I am a pre-service teacher just now working on my student teaching. I often worry about trying to do the perfect thing every time, and end up being so worried about failing at a lesson that I lose my ability to read the kids and go with the flow.Thanks for reminding my to use my creativity, trust my gut, and be myself. Any other sage advice for a beginner just starting out?

Peter, the one piece of advice I would give anyone in education is to start following the hashtag #edchat on Twitter. You don't have to even be on Twitter to follow it. Reach out to others, make connections, and start borrowing ideas from everyone. Also trust your own voice as a teacher.

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Disclaimer

Of course these opinions, musings, rants and reflections do not express the opinion of my employer. One would be crazy to think that one single teacher could be the mouth piece for an entire district. Nor are my posts meant to offend mostly, nor mislead but rather provide a snapshot of my mind at a certain point in time on a topic.
So please feel free to disagree, agree, compliment or discourage further blogging but promise to not think this is in any way an official mode of communication for my employer. These are my opinions and while I stand behind them right now they may change so while you are at it, don't hold that against me either.

about.me

7th Grade Teacher

I am a passionate former 4th and 5th, now 7th grade teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and honest to a fault. Mother of 4 incredible children and married to my soul mate. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, a global literacy inititive that has connected more than 500,000 students in the past 5 years. Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students' heads every day. I muse on education on my blog “Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension.” Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

I get to travel the country to teach others how to empower their students and staff, how to give students a voice, and how to ignite a passion for reading. If you are interested in having me speak at your conference please feel free to contact me at psripp@gmail.com